20 years of the Republic of China

Chapter 748 Fishing from the Lake
The visitor's surname was Suo, and his given name was Suo Jinfeng. He was a clerk at the Fengtian Financial Office. He was not of high rank, just a minor clerk.

Jiang Lianheng had no connection with him, and had never even heard of this person, let alone guess the purpose of his visit.

It was afternoon when Suo Jinfeng arrived at Jiang's residence in the north of the city. Due to his low position, his words did not count, so he spent half a day explaining to Yuan Xinfa and others at the gate before he finally got into Jiang's residence as he wished and met Jiang Lianheng in the living room.

When the host and the guest sit down, they can't help but exchange a few polite words.

Suo Jinfeng is in his early thirties, dressed in a suit and tie, carrying a briefcase and wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He often has a smile on his face, but speaks in a cold and impartial manner, or rather, in a businesslike manner, and does not fawn on the Jiang family because of their wealth.

After all, he was an official from the provincial government, so Jiang Lianheng did not dare to neglect him and treated him with good tea and cigarettes as usual.

"Mr. Suo, you see I have a bad memory and a tendency to forget. Is this the first time we meet?"

"Boss Jiang is too polite. This is indeed the first time we meet."

"Oh, so why did you come to see me this time..."

"I'm here on behalf of the Financial Services Department to see Boss Jiang. I want to talk to you."

This matter is quite new. The Jiang family usually has a lot of dealings with the Commercial Port Bureau, but has never dealt with the Financial Office.

Jiang Lianheng became more and more confused. He leaned over and took out a cigar from the wooden box on the coffee table. He handed it over and asked, "I don't understand this. Jiang is just a businessman. I don't know what the Finance Office wants to talk to me about. Please tell me clearly, Mr. Suo."

Suo Jinfeng declined, "It's nothing, actually. I just want to talk about the financial difficulties the provincial government has encountered recently."

Seeing that he refused to take the cigarette, Jiang Lianheng simply stopped smoking and just sat on the armrest sofa waiting for what happened next.

Strictly speaking, the financial situation of Fengtian and even the entire three northeastern provinces was not difficult.

This place has fertile black soil, rich minerals, and well-developed railways. Those who come to the Northeast are all young and strong laborers. As long as the government does not make trouble, life is very comfortable.

However, the intervals between the two Zhi-Feng wars were too short, and most of Fengtian's tax revenue was used for military expenses, leaving it stretched thin in other areas.

Suo Jinfeng continued, "The current situation is already quite tight, and we have just encountered financial turmoil. In the past six months, there was the case of tens of millions of counterfeit Fengpiao made by the direct lineage Cao family, and then there was a run on Fengpiao by lawless elements. Under such circumstances, Boss Jiang can support the circulation of Fengpiao. The Office is deeply grateful."

"No, no, it's the duty of Fengtian people to support Fengpiao. It's reasonable and reasonable. It's the duty of merchants and citizens. Thank you is too much."

Jiang Lianheng was very happy that his persistence was noticed by the government, which meant that the business losses were not in vain.

Suo Jinfeng also brought good news: "This situation is almost over. The Office is preparing to crack down on those illegal vendors who refuse to accept Fengbi. This time, the rectification of the financial market is no joke. We will definitely crack down on them severely and strive to give justice to law-abiding merchants like Boss Jiang as soon as possible."

"This is a good thing. They should have been punished long ago."

"When the time comes, please help me provide more clues, Boss Jiang."

"Of course. Jiang has no choice but to do it." Jiang Lianheng was doing this, so he was not surprised by the request from the Financial Affairs Office.

"But..." Suo Jinfeng suddenly picked up the briefcase and placed it on his knees. "I came here not only to commend Boss Jiang, but the office has other plans recently."

"Oh, if you have any other instructions, please let me know, Mr. Suo."

"Well, the provincial government is currently preparing to issue a public bond in order to cope with recent financial difficulties."

"Issuing government bonds again?"

Jiang Lianheng clearly remembered that as early as the eve of the First Zhi-Feng War, Lao Zhang had issued a large number of provincial government bonds. At that time, Fengtian was thriving, and the willingness of the provincial capital merchants to buy bonds was quite strong. However, with the defeat of the Fengtian Army, the benefits of the bonds became negligible, and some people even lost a lot of money in the process of reselling them. In the current situation, given the panic caused by the devaluation of Fengtian notes, it is probably difficult to get a positive response from merchants if we want to promote bonds on a large scale.

It's not possible not to send it.

After the Fengtian Army won the battle, it recruited remnants of soldiers and defeated generals from everywhere. In just a few months, Marshal Zhang had more than 300,000 troops under his command. In terms of momentum alone, he was the best in the world.

However, more people means more expenses. In order to maintain the huge military expenditure, the provincial government had to issue public bonds and spend money that it does not have.

Suo Jinfeng said briefly: "The amount of public bonds issued by the provincial government this time is tentatively set at 50 million yuan."

"So many?" Jiang Lianheng was surprised.

With an additional 50 million Fengtian notes issued over there and 50 million public bonds being implemented here, how much fiscal tax revenue does Fengtian Province generate each year?

Suo Jinfeng glanced at it, smiled and comforted him, "Don't worry, Boss Jiang. With the provincial government's credit guarantee, there will be no problem with this public debt."

Having said that, the money will always be returned, but the notes are now depreciating rapidly, and the interest rate cannot keep up with the rate of depreciation, which means it is a losing business. Who would buy government bonds under such circumstances?
"What the provincial government means is... to let our big businesses take the lead in purchasing and set an example?" Jiang Lianheng asked.

Suo Jinfeng shook his head, still smiling and said, "That's not necessary. It's too troublesome. The bonds issued by the provincial government this time will require merchants and citizens in all counties to subscribe."

Jiang Lianheng was stunned.

It seems that they don't even discuss the interest rate of government bonds and just change it to outright robbery, right?
Suo Jinfeng explained: "We will evaluate the assets of merchants in each county, and then divide the subscription amount according to a certain ratio. For example, landlords and gentry need to subscribe to one yuan of bonds for every acre of land they own..."

As he spoke, he pulled out two documents from his briefcase and glanced at them.

"Boss Jiang, you are a wealthy man in the provincial capital, and you have great responsibilities, so the office sent me to come to you to explain the situation in person. According to our assessment of your assets and the proportion... Boss Jiang, the shares of public bonds you need to subscribe to are a total of 300,000 yuan."

"How many?"

"Three hundred thousand." Suo Jinfeng repeated, then put the document on the coffee table and took out a pen from his chest pocket. "This is a voluntary subscription agreement. Please take a look. If there are no problems, please sign here."

Jiang Lianheng hesitated.

Normally, he was indeed extravagant, spending money without counting, and he had never carefully calculated how much assets his family had, but the figure of three hundred thousand still made him feel suffocated. Even if he settled the money by bill, it was still too much, far exceeding his expectations.

Suo Jinfeng did not explain how the asset status was assessed.

Suo Jinfeng did not explain what the ratio of subscribing to government bonds was based on.

All in all, he asked for three hundred thousand yuan right away, which was almost like a bandit.

Jiang Lianheng felt depressed. He rubbed his hands and smiled calmly, "Mr. Suo, it's really troublesome for you to come here. However, three hundred thousand is not a small amount, and I don't have much to prepare. How about this, you go back first, I will discuss it with my family, and I will get back to you tomorrow?"

Suo Jinfeng had no intention of leaving and continued to sit diagonally opposite, only placing the pen in his hand on the coffee table.

"Boss Jiang, I'm quite direct, please don't mind. If it were someone else, I would tell them the truth as well—"

He pushed the subscription agreement forward again and reiterated: "I hope you understand that this is an order, not a request."

(End of this chapter)